Valeriano i



" II R INVEN TOR.

WILEE/ANO Nam/WE BY ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 6, 1932 PATENT OFFICE VALERIANO LMonANrE, or PASADENA, CALIFORNIA GRATER. v

Application filed December 17, 1930. Serial. No. 503,078. l

My invention relates to graters and has more particular reference to devices for grating cocoanuts, and an object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which embodies the use of novel and positively acting means whereby a half portion of a cocoanut while contained in its shell may be subjected to a grating operation in a manner whereby the shell may be gyrated or suitably manipulated conveniently'in the near presence of a grating member and in a way that will permit the meat of the cocoanut to be effectively advanced against the grating member while functioning to cause the cocoa- 35 nut as it is grated to be constricted in its path and held against undue scattering and be deflected downwardly into an underlying receiving receptacle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character embodying power transferring means so arranged and designed as to permit of its being effectively revolved by one hand of the operator while the other hand is employed to effectoperative advancement of the cocoanut against the grating head or member of the device.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is aview in side elevation of the device, with parts broken away and parts in section;

Figure 2 is a section taken substantially on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

I do not wish to be confined to any specific form of mounting for revolubly supporting my grating member, which I will describe presently, but I am desirous of laying particular emphasis upon the construction of such mounting wherein the axis of the grating member will be angularly disposed so as to intersect a perpendicular line drawn at one side of the mounting. This is because of the fact that the invention has for an important object the provision of a grater the angle of inclination of which is such that it is receptive of a cocoanut when contained in a part of its shell, whereby the latter can be satisfactorily employed as a rigid grip by means of which the meat of the cocoanut can be effectively advanced against the operating surface of the grater and the shell also em volve with the shaft. The arrangement is f ployed in co-action with the grater, so as to cause downward deflection along a regular path of thecocoanut asit'is grated. Ac cordingly I have illustrated herein a rather conventional, form of -mounting 5, chiefly consisting of a'single casting having a fixed clamping element 6 and a -co-acting vertically adjustable ,clampingelement 7 the latter carriedby an adjusting screw 8. The said screw 8 finds operative supportin. a lateral arm, 9 which extends from a vertical arm 10 ofthe mounting.

J ournaled in the superstructure of the mounting is' a power transferring shaft 11 having a crank portion 12 carrying a handle 13 by means of which thefshaft can'be revolved manually; The said shaft has keyed thereto a bevel gear wheel 14 which intermeshes withthe. teeth of a small driven pinion15, the latter keyed to a driven shaft 16; It will be noted that the shaft 16 ex tends; upwardly and outwardly at an angle from'the axis ofthe shaft 11 so that the upper extremity 17 thereof will intersect a line drawn perpendicularly at one side of 7 the aforementioned mounting 5; I have so far described means whereby the mounting may be firmly secured to a support A, the latter representing a tabletop or the like,

and I have provided means whereby when motion isimparted to the crank 12 it, in turn, will be transferred to the shaft 16 and at a speed commensurate with the nature of the work to be performed by the grating member which I will now describe.

The grating member is, in effect, pearshaped. It preferably consists of a solid metallic body and is provided with a substantially spherical p0rtion 18 and a reduced neck portion 19, the exterior surfaces of the latter merging gradually into the exterior surfaces of the portion 18. This body is formed with a socket 20 to receive the upper end 17 of the driven shaft,rand as illustrated said upper end of the shaft is flatsided and it follows that the socket 20 has walls of corresponding formation. -This is in orderthat the-grating member may realso such that the grating member primarily intended for the one class of Work herein mentioned may be removable and a grating member of another type of any well known construction substituted therefor. The general contour of the grating member is such that it nicely follows or adapts itself to the contour of the Walls of the cavity defined by the meat in its natural order within the shell of a cocoanut. Following the longitudinal contour of the grater and formed integrally therewith are spiral, spaced-apart rowsofsubstantially V-shaped grating teeth or surfaces 21, and as shown the respective rows all terminate at the axis of the spherical portion 18. This is best illustrated in Figure 1. The opposite extremities or terminals of the respective rows of teeth find positions in side by side relationship around the neck of the grating member. In practice, I find that better results are obtained where the teeth of each row gradually increase in size in the direction of a medial line drawn through each row, but I, of course, do not wish to limit myself to this arrangement.

Having described the essential characterizing features of the invention insofar as concerns the structure employed, the functional characteristics of the device are referred to as follows: Assume that the: cocoanut in its shellhas been out in half and that the shell of onehalf is held in one hand of the operator and in a position where the cavity of the contained meat in the shell is partly receivedby the grating member upon the driven shaft 16. On initially associating the cocoanutwit-h the grating member, it isproposed or suggested that a line drawn axially through the shell coincide with a line drawn through theaxis of the shaft 16.. When the shell is positioned as aforementioned, it in effect constitutes a skirt or deflecting shield the walls of which extend about the exterior surfaces of the grating member. It manifestly follows that when pressure of the hand is. advanced against the shell the contained meat will be pressed against the grating member and that by grasping the shell in the hand same can be gyratedso to speak, and in consequence thereof the entire body of contained meat will in the course of this gyratory movement of the shell be acted upon by the aforestated teeth of thegrating member and finely ground by the action thereof. The hard shell of the cocoanut through the fact that its walls practically circumscribe the walls of the grater plus the fact that a skilled manipulator may control the angle of deflection or discharge of the grating, the lat ter can be guided along a direct lane or line, thence deposited in a receptacle placed upon the table A beneath the grating member.

I claim as my invention:

In a cocoanut grater, a bracket including an upwardly and inwardly extending superstructure, a shaft journaled for rotation in the superstructure and having a portion extending upwardly beyond and inwardly from the upper end thereof, means carried bythebracket for transmitting power to said shaft, and a grating member carried by the aforementioned portion of the shaft and consisting of a body of a shape having a gradually reduced neck portion at its inner extremity and a substantially spherical outer portion, the walls of the latter merging into the walls of the neck portion, said grating member having spaced apart rows of grating teeth extending from a point at the axis of said spherical portion to a point at the inner extremity of said neck portion.

VALERIANO I. MORANTE. 

